Local volunteers help in wake of Florence

Local residents are heading to the Carolinas as the states grapple with massive flooding and evacuations in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.

Joyce Burns, of Bethel, is among about 3,000 Red Cross volunteers sent to head shelters and support people affected by last week’s storm.

A retired social worker at the Park Avenue School in Danbury, Burns is part of a team that will provide mental health care to victims.

She arrived in Columbia, S.C. Sunday and expects Tuesday to go to a shelter in Myrtle Beach, one of the areas hit hardest by the hurricane. For the next two weeks, she will try to help the residents process what they have experienced.

“It’s a very stressful situation because there is so much loss involved,” Burns said. “It's not just loss of property, but it’s loss of where you live.”

Meanwhile, Arthur Hopkins, a New Milford resident, arrived last Tuesday in South Carolina, where he set up a shelter for Red Cross staff at a church function hall and one for residents at a high school in St. Matthews in Calhoun County.

“You meet some great people,” he said. “They’re so thankful for the Red Cross.”

At the height of the storm, about 50 people were in the shelter Hopkins managed, but he said Calhoun County was lucky. The area saw only heavy rain and wind.

North Carolina was hit much harder, with 90 mph winds destroying buildings and flooding forcing residents to evacuate their homes.

At least 20 people in North and South Carolina have died because of the hurricane.

Before the storm hit, 10 soldiers from the Connecticut National Guard flew to Tennessee to assist.

The guardsmen have brought thousands of pounds of equipment to first responders in various towns that have been completely cut off by flooding, Major Mike Petersen said.

“We are extremely proud of the hard work they are doing, and our thoughts and prayers remain with those continuing to be affected by Hurricane Florence,” Petersen said.

Meanwhile, Americares, a relief organization, sent 1,400 first aid kits and 800 hygiene kits from its Stamford distribution center to North Carolina on Saturday. A team from the organization was also in Raleigh, N.C. over the weekend to pack supplies for a shelter housing 200 people in Clayton, N.C.

The shelter Hopkins managed closed Sunday because residents were able to go back into their homes, so he was given the day off Monday. Instead of resting, he headed north to Lancaster County, where the damage was worse than in St. Matthews.

“I don’t want to sit around,” Hopkins said.

In Lancaster County, Hopkins went to various neighborhoods to help the Red Cross assess damage, so case workers could help residents get financial help. He said he has seen trees on homes and flooding, but that many residents have not needed to evacuate.

“Most of them have elected to stay in their homes,” he said. “The loss of power was only temporary.”

Hopkins has managed shelters locally, including one at Brookfield High School during the May storm, and volunteered during last year’s wildfires in California, Hurricane Harvey in Texas and flooding in Baton Rouge.